Growing up as a Baptist pastor’s kid in a small town in East Texas, Bob got the chance to learn the Bible at a young age. He developed strong theological opinions, but didn’t know how to live it outside the church. He knew how to debate his faith, but didn’t know how to love.
After marrying his high school sweetheart Niki, Bob, who initially felt that he was going to be a global missionary, felt a calling to plant Northwood Church in Keller (Dallas/Fort Worth), Texas. During the early days in his church ministry, two questions radically impacted his life: ‘When will Jesus be enough?’ & ‘What if the church were the missionary?’.
Drawing inspiration from early church history and the emerging church in the developing world, Bob envisioned a new way of engaging the local church to achieve common goals. He calls for building a church culture rather than a church program. Glocal (Local + Global) churches that make disciples who, transformed by the Holy Spirit, are infiltrating today’s culture on a global and local scale. He believes that instead of just paying a few people to do the mission work for your church, your entire church needs to be mobilized to use their job and skills to live on mission both in your city and around the world.
As he began to build friendships around the world, he realized he had so much to learn! He is conservative in theology but realized the problem is not what he believed or what Jesus said; it is how we live that out. His theology didn’t change; his methodology did. Faith in the public square is where theological conviction doesn’t put you in opposition with other people.
Dr. Bob Roberts Jr. is a pastor and renowned bridge builder who has dedicated his life to promoting and advancing religious freedom, peacemaking and civil engagement. He is the founder of GlocalNet, a ministry dedicated to mobilizing the church to bring about transformation in the public square, co-founder of the Multi-Faith Neighbors Network (MFNN), an organization committed to promoting religious freedom through intentional cross-cultural relationships, and newly appointed president of the Institute of Global Engagement (IGE), an organization that catalyzes freedom of faith worldwide so that everyone has the ability to live what they believe, and the founder and chairman of Glocal Ventures Inc (GVI) He is also currently the Senior Global Pastor at Northwood Church and host of the Bold Love podcast.
With decades of experience in peacemaking and international religious freedom, Dr. Roberts’ groundbreaking work has earned him respect and recognition from the United Nations, U.S. Department of State, World Economic Forum, ambassadors, international royal families, and policy leaders worldwide. His impressive contributions were honored by The White House in 2022 when he and the MFNN co-founders received the Uniter Award for their inspiring grassroots bridge-building work across faith groups throughout the US.
For over 30 years, Dr. Roberts led Northwood Church near Dallas, Texas, where he is now the Founding Global Pastor. He is also a prolific author of six books and the host of the Bold Love podcast, where he shares stories of his journey and encouraging people to boldly love their neighbors.
Bob holds a Doctorate of Ministry from Fuller Theological Seminary, a Masters of Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and a BA from Baylor University.
Bob has contributed or been featured on the World Economic Forum, Fox Business Channel, Washington Post, New York Times, Huckabee Show, Religious News Service, C-Span, Templeton Religions Trust, El-Hibri, Christianity Today, Outreach Magazine and more.
